Postmarks
Fri., Nov. 21, 1997
Dear Chronicle Readers:
Do you know if Flo's restaurant will be re-opening? The sign is still out in front of her relatively new location on East 11th Street and Navasota. (An article on soul food in the Chronicle ["Southern Comfort," Vol.16, No.40] is what originally prompted me to go there.)
I thoroughly enjoyed the delicious soul food so generously served there. I was happy to see her move the business to such a nice, small place.
It has been months since she has been open. I heard a rumor that she had been out of town and would be back. Does anyone know if and when she will be open again?
Thank You,
Claire Fortenberry
The Naïve Left
Editor:
The recent article by Mr. Bryce bemoaning Ann Richards' connection with moneyed East Coast interests surprised me ["Shattered Icon," Vol.17, No.8]. Not because of Ann's escapades, but because of the seemingly endless wellspring of naïveté the Left, excuse me, Progressives, have.
When some salamanders and plants are at risk in New Jersey (where everyone's at risk, anyway), Mr. Bryce begins to whine "betrayal."
Guess what, Mr. Bryce; she's a politician, with all the horrible implications that entails! She's always going to "follow the money." She just had you conned for a while when your goals were convenient for her to adopt. Now, her sights are set elsewhere and she doesn't (sob) need you anymore. Boo hoo! Get over it! Grow up!
If you create a powerful government which can take things away from people who have "too much," or the "wrong" goals, and give these things to people who have "too little," or whose plans are to your liking, guess what; they'll soon be taking stuff from you and giving it to someone else! It is the logical result of our current society, in which the noble end justifies ignoble means and political might makes right.
I am waiting for the day when Leftists and Rightists both wake up, realize they've created a powerful, destructive monster. An all-pervasive government run by crooks is the monstrous result of a naïve trust of people who promise utopia if only you'll give them power. Only after you wise up to this, will amoral users and con-people like Richards, the Bushes, and the Clintons sink back to the shyster holes from which they emerged.
You can't achieve morality through immoral means. There are no cattle prods in heaven. Voluntary means must be used to achieve our goals. Absent coercion, there will be nothing for sale by politicians. The end of "the best government money can buy."
Until that day,
voting Libertarian,
Dan Kuttner
Just Another Dittohead
Editor:
In response to Kurt Standiford's letter ["Postmarks," Vol.17, No.11] -- get a grip of yourself. Either you're tempting fate or truly ignorant. You really come across as nothing more than an inarticulate conservative. Put aside the name-calling, and labeling for once. Your accusations are obviously inspired by a serious lack of judgment and attention. You may want to approach your next letter with a little more intellect. Your attitude only encourages divisiveness. If that is honestly your intention, keep it up, otherwise try a more progressive approach. You are apparently frustrated by something. I would suggest putting it down on paper but you've done that far too often. Maybe you should just keep it to yourself.
Angus Tilney
Don't Miss Xanna
Editor:
How could The Austin Chronicle publish a story last week ["Where Have All the Cowgirls Gone?" Vol.17, No.11] about Austin's female country singers and not include me and my band, Miss Xanna Don't & the Wanted? Could it be that your journalist thought I'm a drag queen (as did the gay pride committee of Waco, who decided to have me play anyway -- true story!)? Or perhaps the gap between the gay community and the predominantly heterosexual country community is larger than I thought? While I could certainly understand that your writer probably wouldn't know that I was dubbed "The Country Queen of Boston" for my years there by the Boston Herald, and that I made the Best of 1996 for the Texas publication The Fag Rag, it was only this past July that The Austin American-Statesman listed me as "Austin's Underground Country Queen" and I even made the Chronicle's very own Best of Austin issue for 1996. Your columnist challenges your readers to check out the Chronicle listings for themselves for evidence of a lack of female country performers' names, but apparently she missed listings of my act performing at such venues as Liberty Lunch with Toni Price and Southern Culture on the Skids, Electric Lounge with the Derailers, the Bottle Rockets, and Lucinda Williams (at Lucinda's request). Emo's with Don Walser and yes, as a headliner myself, and the lamented Split Rail last year with the Graverobbers, Bruce Robison, and Christine Albert (hey, there's another busy Austin country gal that got left out of the article). And my band has even had time to sneak in a couple of those highly coveted Continental and Stubb's gigs, and yes, even as a headliner. Perhaps if your writer got out into the clubs to find us, all of us, and hear us, she wouldn't be wondering where we've all gone.
Alive and well and gigging in Austin,
Miss Xanna Don't
Glass Ceiling
Editor:
I read the story on where all the cowgirls have gone with considerable interest, since I have spent many years mining that particular rathole in Austin. The facts presented are entirely too true; women who pursue a career as a country bandleader eventually hit the wall of "Women Don't Draw." As I completed my CD last summer and negotiated for a Friday night release party at the nightclub I had played for years, I was stunned to find that line presented as economic law by the owner and his wife.
Good luck, ladies.
Michele Murphy
Dead Wrong
Editor:
I thought the review of last weekend's Wilco shows ["Live Shots," Vol.17, No.11] was fairly dead-on until I got to the end. Jeff Tweedy spewed beer onto the crowd Friday night and then chunked the bottle straight into the audience. Yes, someone threw it back on stage, but Jeff threw it first. Jeff pulled the guy on stage (and kissed him!) not to mock him but because he was apologetic about hitting him in the head. On Saturday night, Jeff jokingly tossed a water bottle at him.
The reviewer must have been in the bathroom at the time, because deriding the guy publicly in his review was a piss-poor thing to do.
Jen Sansbury
Waco
Won't Be Reading This!
Editor:
In response to the joker who reviewed David Byrne... first of all, if you'd woken up early enough to hear anything, you would have known that the Talking Heads music was being featured at the Zona Rosa show. It was announced over and over again. Those of us who have been fans through the years appreciated the chance to hear some of our old favorites performed with the same energy and enthusiasm that he always puts into his shows. As far as your snide remark regarding the woman backing Byrne up, I'd like to see you get your butt on stage and keep up the sound and the movement that she did... it'd probably kill you.
I will not be reading Chronicle reviews in the future, as your reviewers seem to think that it's cool to put down everyone that comes down the pike regardless of what actually goes on.
Sincerely,
Abbie Argersinger
Basics, Not Boondoggles
Dear Editor,
"Basics not boondoggles," that was the Honorable Councilmember Daryl Slusher's '96 campaign motto. The November 11 Austin American-Statesman editorial section reported that crime is still a problem in Northeast Austin despite promises by city and police officials that there would be long-term efforts to reduce crime. It appears that CCEC is missing city deadlines, and the city stoplights are still not synchronized. The basics are clearly missing.
Given that Circle C will cost at least $43 million for the city of Austin to annex, after the $34 million the city claims to have spent for water/wastewater infrastructure at Circle C, annexation sounds like a city boondoggle to me. The City of Austin has a long history of fiscal irresponsibility (the Sumiken and Avante buildings, South Texas Nuclear Project, excessive tax abatements, and a manure burner to name a few). The city should admit their mistakes and focus on the real problem -- the city's reputation of fiscal irresponsibility -- and not continue to throw good money after bad.
The Honorable Councilmember Daryl Slusher has stated that "Using Executive Sessions to hide these deals and financing tricks to get around voters, the City Council wasted millions on bad building purchases. As a Councilmember, I will never support the issuance of debt without voter approval." Let's hold the City leaders to their civic responsibilities.
Thank you for listening,
Vince Bridgers
Austin Fictions
Editor:
Hello. My closest friend and his family are residents of Austin. She teaches at UT and he is a producer for government TV. I can only surmise that the MTV aired Austin Stories series is like all things MTV'ed: unrealistic and slanted disproportionately the wrong way. However, I do enjoy the familiarity of images and locations and the characters are sketchy enough to be from anywhere.
My point is, having been raised by "Native Texans" albeit Lubbock (if that planet counts), does anyone actually like this show or can the gunfire of angry, highly charged, and emotionally fervent Texans shooting out picture tubes of Trinitrons all over the capital city ring out every Wednesday night at 8:30?
Just curious, having blood relatives in Muleshoe,TX with Mule's Ass Tatoos on their arms made me wonder if this reaction was hereditary, though I haven't any firearms.
Many Thanx,
Bob Price
Denver, Colorado
Clarification
Editor:
Mark Ferrari's response to my letter ["Postmarks," Vol.17, No.11], in which he took me to task for suggesting street improvements, misses the point I was trying to make: There are better ways to spend $25 million (and up) than digging a hole in the ground to divert Waller Creek flood water. The 15th Street/Enfield corridor is not a good example of traffic calming. It is an example of fear-driven neighborhood residents mandating no reasonable maintenance to the streets we all use. I know you don't want to develop like 38th Street, but come on, paving and straightening might help you get out of your driveways during rush hour. And for those of you who are recent arrivals, Enfield/15th Street has always been a commuter corridor. But how about this for a compromise: spend the $25 million on a tunnel connecting the Lamar overpass and MoPac. This would benefit your neighborhood and the thousands of Austin resident commuters that use this corridor to go to to work.
Richard Lynch
